Voter Fraud Is Real; Disbelieving That It Happens Is Naive

According to Newsweek: 

Besides the United States, there are 36 member states in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Forty-seven percent ban mail-in voting unless the citizen is living abroad, and 30 percent require a photo ID to obtain a mail-in ballot. Fourteen percent of the countries ban mail-in voting even for those living abroad.

https://www.newsweek.com/voting-fraud-real-concern-just-look-around-world-opinion-1522535

France banned mail-in voting in 1975 because of massive fraud in Corsica, where postal ballots were stolen or bought and voters cast multiple votes. Mail-in ballots were used to cast the votes of dead people.

Among the 27 countries in the European Union, 63 percent ban mail-in voting unless living abroad and another 22 percent require a photo ID to obtain a mail-in ballot. Twenty-two percent ban the practice even for those who live abroad.

In 1991, Mexico's election mandated voter photo IDs and banned absentee ballots. The then-governing Institutional Revolutionary Party had long used fraud and intimidation with mail-in ballots in order to win elections. Only in 2006 were absentee ballots again allowed, and then only for those living abroad who requested them at least six months in advance.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3666259

In the early 80's we had a friend who was a professional photographer at Fingerhut in Minneapolis. Being single, he enjoyed traveling and sharing photos from exotic places he'd visited. One of his trips took him to Ecuador and he happened to be in that country on election day. 

He showed us photos of people with their thumbs ink-blackened as a sign that they had voted. It was his understanding that voting was required by law, so people were easily identified as having voted or evaded it. The black thumb prevented people from voting more than once.

Here's an article about 25 countries that still mark voters with ink:
https://tricitytimes-online.com/2020/12/23/25-countries-mark-voters-with-ink/

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Here's an abstract detailing the issue of voter fraud in other parts of the world.

Why Do Most Countries Ban Mail-In Ballots?: They Have Seen Massive Vote Fraud Problems

152 Pages Posted: 9 Aug 2020 Last revised: 26 Apr 2021

John R. Lott

Crime Prevention Research Center

Date Written: August 3, 2020

Abstract

Thirty-seven states have so far changed their mail-in voting procedures this year in response to the Coronavirus. Despite frequent claims that President Trump’s warning about vote fraud/voting buying with mail-in ballots is “baselessly” or “without evidence” about mail-in vote fraud, there are numerous examples of vote fraud and vote buying with mail-in ballots in the United States and across the world. Indeed, concerns over vote fraud and vote buying with mail-in ballots causes the vast majority of countries to ban mail-in voting unless the citizen is living abroad.

There are fraud problems with mail-in absentee ballots but the problems with universal mail-in ballots are much more significant. Still most countries ban even absentee ballots for people living in their countries.

Most developed countries ban absentee ballots unless the citizen is living abroad or require Photo-IDs to obtain those ballots. Even higher percentages of European Union or other European countries ban absentee for in country voters. In addition, some countries that allow voting by mail for citizens living the country don’t allow it for everyone. For example, Japan and Poland have limited mail-in voting to those who have special certificates verifying that they are disabled.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3666259

Countries that require a photo ID to vote: UK Italy Chile Spain Malta Brazil Israel Latvia Russia France Mexico Austria Ireland Poland Greece Croatia Finland Estonia Belgium Sweden Bulgaria Portugal Hungary Ecuador Slovenia Slovakia Romania Denmark Germany Lithuania Argentina Columbia Botswana Zimbabwe Luxemburg Netherlands South Africa Czech Republic

(Just to name a few)

People who deny that voter fraud happens are either naive or ______. (Fill in the blank.)

EdNote: I am not a right-wing nut. Why is common sense so uncommon?

San Francisco's School Renaming Spree Would Be Funny If They Weren't Serious

TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION DEPT.

A lot of people were probably surprised when mobs began tearing down statues in several cities around the country. What surprised people wasn't that statues were being torn down, but the kinds of statues being destroyed or defaced. It was no longer just Confederate generals, but presidents and people considered heroes in many quarters. 

Against this backdrop I was not surprised to learn that the San Francisco school board was renaming as many as a third of their schools because they were determined to be no longer acceptable. 

Yesterday I came across this disturbing article from The Atlantic titled The Holier-Than-Thou Crusade in San Francisco by Gary Kamiya. Here is the story lead: 

San Francisco has issued its latest grand moral decree, and bad ex-presidents would be quaking in their coffins—if they could stop laughing.

On January 26, the San Francisco school board announced that dozens of public schools must be renamed. The figures that do not meet the board’s standards include Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, Robert Louis Stevenson, Paul Revere, and Dianne Feinstein. A panel had determined that the 44 schools—more than one-third of the city’s total—were named after figures guilty of being, variously, colonizers; slave owners; exploiters of workers; oppressors of women, children, or queer and transgender people; people connected to human rights or environmental abuses; and espousers of racist beliefs.

The lively writing is filled with zingers like this one:

The more than 70 million Trump supporters whose most extreme caricatures of liberals have now been confirmed...

and this one:

The city’s move to rename schools will provide invaluable ammunition to Fox News.

* * * 

Evidently the School Names Advisory Committee was assembled in 2018 to address the issue of inappropriate names for the schools in their district. Once they realized the power they had been given, they threw caution to the wind. Kamiya writes:

In keeping with the incorruptible, Robespierre-like spirit of our revolutionary times, the committee decreed that one sin (being a colonizer or slave owner, using an “inappropriate” word, and so on) was all that was required to send a figure to the guillotine. Once that decision was made, the severed heads rolled into the gutter of history.

I encourage you to read the article to see what got Robert Louis Stevenson cancelled. It's so absurd that it defies comprehension? Then again, this has been my biggest concern about PC and Cancel Culture: No Mercy. And the corollary: Facts don't matter.

You should also check out the misinformation that passed as fact which expelled Paul Revere from another school.

As Kamiya puts it, "This debacle is just the latest example of 'progressive' cultural censorship in a city once renowned as a bastion of free speech."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE:
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/02/san-francisco-renaming-spree/617894/

* * * 

THE ACRONYM ISSUE

As if the above story weren't disappointing enough, the following is the one I was looking for when I stumbled upon the Atlantic article. This story, by Andrew Chamings, apeared in the SFGate. It is titled:

After renaming debacle, SFUSD says

acronyms are a sign of 'white supremacy culture'

Now I'm not afraid to tell you that acronyms can be a problem. For years I taught a class on writing in which one section was devoted to Acronyms. In that class I showed how every industry has its own set of acronyms. Since the goal of communication is to communicate, we should not use acronyms without explaining them. API means American Petroleum Institute in the auto industry, for example. 

I do know how demeaning it can sometimes feel when people use unfamiliar acronyms and you don't know what they mean but are afraid to show your ignorance. I get it. But to call it white supremacy seems a bit of a stretch. Is LGBTQ a white supremacist power play? I don't think so. 

The SFGate article begins with the re-naming of schools that has been taking place. Then it slides over to the issue of acronyms. 

Some in the district have now taken the confounding stance that acronyms are a symptom of "white supremacy culture" and are working to remove them from buildings.

Evidently the arts department, which has formerly been VAPA (Visual And Performing Arts) is now going to be the SFUSD Arts Department. Go figure.

In a Newsweek story about the acronym issue, Dem congressman Ted Lieu took to Twitter to say "This is stupid. Acronyms are not a symptom of white supremacy culture. They are shorthand to make communicating more efficient. For example, CAPAC stands for Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Much easier to say CAPAC. Or ACLU. Or NAACP. Or NASA."

Exactly. 

You can read the full SFGate story here:
https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/school-renaming-SFUSD-acronyms-racist-15919053.php

Interview with Jack Salmela: Of Vikings & Voyageurs

He had the heart of an artist. But the practical advice of his father ruled out and he graduated college with a civil engineering degree. The inner flame, however, was never quenched and in 1983 he took an evening journalism class on magazine writing and editing. Over the years he worked at MnDOT by day, and polished his craft at night.

Duluthian Jack Salmela self-published his first novel, The Messiah Medallions, in 2005. Of Vikings and Voyageurs, his second novel, was picked up by North Star Press and released in 2008. Of this latter book, geologist/historian Scott Wolter wrote, "A clever and intriguing novel. The intelligent and memorable characters in this story endure a whitewater-like adventure dodging danger while trying to solve a mystery that crosses continents and cultures along the way to a startling climax!" Think of it as The Da Vinci Code with a Northland setting.

Here he talks about his new book, the craft of writing and other life lessons.

ennyman: What are some of the things you learned about Vikings and Minnesota through writing this book?

JS: About the Vikings ... That we are so ignorant of their history. The Cistercian monks and Templars in Gotland Sweden were very advanced by the 14th century. These are the folks who have been to North America long before Columbus.

About Minnesota ... That Grand Portage was the gateway to the West long before St. Louis was. Grand Portage was a commercial gateway that benefited both the Europeans (furs) and the Native Americans (wool blankets, pots, pans, and other metal goods). The St. Louis gateway, on the other hand, was the death knell for Native Americans as it brought in white settlement to Indian lands.

Another thing, the fur traders don't get the historical credit they deserve. For one example, Sir Alexander McKenzie made it to the Pacific Ocean twelve years before Lewis & Clark.

Speaking of whom -- Lewis & Clark had documented blonde-haired, fair-skinned Mandan Indians in present-day North Dakota. So had La Verendrye in the early 1700s. In fact, La Verendrye made his way from Lake Superior, through today's BWCA (Boundary Waters Canoe Area), up to Lake Winnipeg, and out to the northern plains where he found an inscribed stone. Jesuit priests back in Montreal said the inscriptions were "Tatarian," which happen to be very similar to Nordic runes.

One last thing that I learned about Minnesota ...I have a couple of chapters with Ben Franklin in Paris when he and his commission had to negotiate the end of the Revolutionary War in 1782. Their map was very inaccurate of the Lake Superior Minnesota area. In fact, their map was the 1755 John Mitchell Map. What it shows as the Pigeon River up by Grand Portage was based on a hand sketch that Chief Ochagach drew for La Verendrye. The resulting treaty language turned out to be controversial, so much so that the Canadian explorer, David Thompson, was able to make the argument that the border should run down St. Louis Bay, between Duluth and Superior. This mess didn't get resolved until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842.

ennyman: What did you learn about yourself through writing this book?

JS: The research and writing was very natural for me. I never considered it work. And I like interacting with the public. I've had some speaking engagements that have been really rewarding, and I'm looking forward to others.

ennyman: Most people live pretty busy and full lives. In order to write they have to sacrifice something. Some sacrifice sleep, others make sacrifices in their social lives. What sacrifices have you made to write this book?

JS: Perhaps some more outdoor recreational activities or some construction project around the house. But regardless of what one does, it can always be considered as one thing done at the expense of another. I guess we gravitate to doing what we like best whenever we can.

ennyman: How did you become interested in this topic and how long did you work on this book from conception to publication?
JS: I love history, I love the history of this area, and I love the BWCA. I hope the beauty of the BWCA comes through to the readers of "Vikings & Voyageurs." And my wilderness canoeing experience was important for the practical aspects of the story, namely the geography and major flowages. Time from start of research & writing to a completed manuscript: 2 years, 2 months, and 2 weeks.

ennyman: After all is said and done, do you wish you had changed any part of the story? Is this the book you wanted to write?
JS: Yes, I'm satisfied. However, now that I've become friends with my primary resource on Viking history, Scott Wolter, I guess I now would have access to other info that may have had potential to alter the plot. But the book was written at a certain point in my life at a certain time. Anybody's book written at a different time would, of course, be different. But whenever a book gets done and comes out, it is what it is. So again ... not only am I satisfied, and I've gotten good feedback.

ennyman: You started writing in 1983. What kinds of things have you published in that time?

JS: One of my favorite essays, "Portrayal of a Prairie Blizzard," was published in a state-wide newsletter/newspaper. I've had a couple travel articles appear in the Outdoor section of the Duluth News Tribune, along with several photos. I've also had some photos and one article appear in Lake Superior Magazine. Newsweek published an article of mine in their "My Turn" column.

ennyman: Who are your favorite authors and why?

JS: Sigurd Olson's wilderness writing in Open Horizons and Reflections from the North Country was very influential.

Other authors ... well, I like to think more in terms of topic. I've really have liked outdoor adventures. Jonathan Krakour's Into Thin Air was absolutely thrilling, and I also liked Will Steger's North to the Pole, and Eric Severaid's Canoeing with the Cree.

In terms of impact at a deeper, emotional level ... Russell Baker's Growing Up will always be a favorite. And in terms of an anthropomorphic portrayal of mankind's eternal flaws, you can't beat Animal Farm.

ennyman: What is the next book you have inside you? Do you think it will be easier to produce now or harder because you know the cost of doing it?

JS: It has already started, and cost isn't an issue (at least not yet, anyway... I've been too chicken to quit my day job.) Scott Wolter was kind enough to give me the manuscript for his next, non-fiction book so I can incorporate his research. And I think this turned out to be a win-win. I recently gave him corrections that he really appreciated. (By the way, his first book on Viking history was my resource. It's title is, The Kensington Rune Stone -- Compelling New Evidence.)

EdNote: You can find both of Jack's books at Amazon.com